


love takes time

by crystal-peridot (captaintomysky)



Series: Love Takes Time/Love Takes Work [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, abuse & anxiety mentions, implied rosepearl, rose diamond theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 09:06:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4298874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaintomysky/pseuds/crystal-peridot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Sapphire, it took a thousand years.</p><p>A story about how Sapphire and Ruby might have met.</p><p>These stories can be read in any order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've still got my fingers crossed for a flashback to how Ruby and Sapphire met in Stevenbomb 3. Until then, I wrote this.
> 
> This is a companion fic to "Love Takes Work", which has the same storyline but is written in Ruby's POV. I'd highly recommend reading both. Link to the series is above.
> 
> Listen to the 8tracks playlist: [here](http://8tracks.com/captaintomysky/love-takes-time-love-takes-work)

_The dream had started the same way each time, with Ruby practicing on the lawn. Each time she would overextend the same punch, lose her balance, and fall to the ground. And each time the same three gems would approach her._

_Sapphire's Ruby was the smallest she had ever seen. Most rubies were far larger, approaching the size of Rose Quartz. They were born for the purpose of fighting; as a result, there was fierce competitiveness among their kind. The rubies that approached Ruby now were among the largest in Rose's army._

_"Haven't given up yet, have you?" One asked._

_"Nope." Beyond this, Ruby offered no acknowledgement. She stood up._

_"I have no idea why." The largest gem said. She idly pushed Ruby back to the ground. Almost of their own accord, Ruby's hands balled into fists. She squeezed her eyes shut._

_"I don't even understand why we even continue to tolerate this one," the third gem said to the other two. "Have you ever defeated another gem in battle, little Ruby? Have you ever done anything useful? Anything besides running and hiding?"_

_Ruby said nothing, but Sapphire knew she had. She had been there, in a way, the sleepless night after Ruby's first kill._

_"You don't even deserve your gem." It was the largest of them who had spoken, but that didn't stop Ruby from flying towards her, ready to fight. She got a solid hit in on the largest gem's stomach, before another ruby picked her up from behind, holding her in the air by her shirt._

_"That was a stupid move," she said, watching Ruby struggle to free herself._

_By now, the gem Ruby hit was recovering from her disorientation. The first thing she did was draw her weapon, gloves, and punch her in the back. Ruby arched and kicked in response, but otherwise made no sound._

_"We'll make you regret that decision." Ruby was grabbing at the hands that held her, trying to pull herself free. The largest gem glanced around at the grass around them, and picked up an abandoned dagger. "Give me her hand."_

_Ruby cried out for the first time when the hand that held her gem was pulled away from her and held out for the largest ruby. One of the gems actually shuddered when the tip of the dagger dug into Ruby's gem. Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes._

_Ruby's gem was cut all the way across, in a straight line, before anyone came to see what was happening. Before the rubies could start on another, the cries Ruby had only half-contained attracted the attention of some other gems. When they realized they'd been caught, they dropped Ruby unceremoniously to the ground. This was when Sapphire always woke, crying._

~*~

The blessing of Sapphire's future vision had always been that it had never extended with such vividness into her memories. She had never felt so blessed for her ability to forget as she did now. She had never been so tormented by all those she had failed to save as she was by the image of Ruby's gem cracking.

Sure, she hadn't known for certain if Ruby even existed until today. But she'd had the dream _three consecutive times._ She still should have done something sooner, even at the risk of seeming crazy.

She would not make that mistake again. Never again.

It happened on an otherwise ordinary morning. Sapphire always spent the trials she was forced to attend counting the bricks on the far wall of the chamber. Sapphire spent most of her days at Rose Quartz's right hand, using her future vision to advise her. Every morning, Rose Quartz heard and resolved the conflicts of her people. Although Sapphire attended each of these meetings, her expertise was almost never needed. For this reason, Rose tolerated her mental absence; she was well aware of the negative impacts mental exertion often had on Sapphire.

Three rubies were brought before Rose Quartz this morning. Sapphire might never have recognized them, distant as she was, had she not run out of bricks on the wall to count. Her focus so interrupted, she caught part of the supplicants' story.

"She's the smallest ruby any of us have ever seen, you know, and she's so insolent about it, we just wanted to--"

"Wait." Sapphire heard herself speak. Rose and Pearl looked over at her in surprise.

She looked down at the gems kneeling before her. It couldn't be. She struggled to process what she was seeing.

"Repeat your story. All of it."

"Well... We were provoked."

"By a small ruby? You cut her gem, didn't you? Like this?" She held up her own hand and drew a line across her gem. The motion reminded her powerfully of her dream, and she felt another wave of horror pass through her.

"Well... yeah." The admission, coupled with the complete lack of remorse on either of their faces, made Sapphire so angry she had to close her eyes for a moment to keep it from showing on her face. She didn't process that it meant her dream was real. She only heard Ruby crying again. _She's stronger and a better fighter than any of you_.

"Rose Quartz, may I have your permission to pass judgement?" Her voice was icy even to her own ears. Her control was slipping.

"Of course, Sapphire." Rose ordinarily trusted Sapphire's judgement without question, but her brows were furrowed slightly in concern this time.

"There will be no punishment," she paused here, to watch the rubies' relief, before continuing: "Except to serve on the front lines in the coming battle, and in every battle against the Homeworld's forces thereafter." She didn't dare look at Pearl and Rose Quartz. "Surely strong rubies such as yourselves will be best able to serve our cause in this capacity. Thank you for enlightening us of your incredible strength. You are free to go now."

Though she hated to say it, seeing the relief on their faces replaced with fear was sadistically satisfying. They could have killed Ruby. They would have.

When the rubies were gone, Pearl turned on her.

"You essentially sentenced those gems to death, Sapphire." To say the least, she did not sound happy. Sapphire ignored her.

"What's going on?" Rose sounded so worried. Of course she did. She'd never even seen Sapphire angry.

Sapphire spoke almost to herself at first. "It's so strange... Last night, and the two before it, I saw the same vision... Of what those gems did to that small ruby. They tortured her, I--even in my visions of the war, I have never seen anything so horrifying. She didn't even scream." Her voice shook by the end. Her omissions were heavy inside of her.

Rose Quartz and Pearl stared at her blankly. She had never come undone like this before.

"How is that possible, Sapphire?" Pearl asked. "That sounds nothing like your future vision. You normally don't see certainties."

"I don't know." she turned to Rose. "Can you keep her from leaving tonight for battle? I think we can all agree that this merits explanation, and it wouldn't do if the subject of this phenomenon were hurt or killed in the coming battle." She paused, considering what else would be necessary. "Can you heal her, as well? Ruby, I mean. Her gem is scratched. It's fairly bad, from what I saw. Can you have her brought here?"

"Of course. We'll send for her immediately."

"I can go and personally see that the ruby is brought, if you'd like." Pearl offered.

"Thanks."

Once Pearl was gone, Rose Quartz turned to Sapphire.

"Do you think there's any reason your vision was focused around this gem specifically?"

The question of millenia. Sapphire hated lying to Rose.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps we'll find out when she's brought here."

Pearl returned. "The ruby will be here soon," she said, then knelt in front of Sapphire. Nothing elated Pearl like a problem that needed solving, and Sapphire could feel the excitement radiating off her. The three of them fell into a comfortable silence, which gave Sapphire a moment to think.

"Perhaps it would be best if you spoke to the ruby for me, Pearl? I know I'm asking a lot of you, but I'd like more time to assess the situation before I speak with her personally."

"Of course, Sapphire, if that will help."

"I'll wait outside with you," Rose contributed. "Though, I will be interested to see how you two get along with each other."

Sapphire just smiled weakly. "What I'm most wondering is whether my dream came to pass exactly as I saw it. I suppose I'll know eventually, probably, unless--" she broke off. She didn't want the other gems to hear what she was thinking. Unless Ruby was like all the other Homeworld gems, and wanted nothing to do with her. And thought she was strange.

Rose and Pearl ignored her slip, mercifully.

In the moments before Sapphire saw Ruby for the (sort of) first time, she tried to reconcile this new information with her pre-existing notions of reality, through her growing sense of combined panic and excitement. It probably wouldn't even be the same Ruby. There was simply no way. Ruby couldn't be--

"The ruby is here," a guard announced. Sapphire practically tripped over herself in her rush to get out of the room before Ruby saw her. Rose and Pearl ignored this, too.

She was standing in the hallway when she heard Ruby enter.

"Hello." Pearl spoke to Ruby with a voice that was kind and soft.

"Uh, hi."

That was it. Ruby's fumbling greeting was all Sapphire needed. She covered her mouth with her hands. Ruby was real. She didn't even need to look to recognize her voice. She was real. Hesitantly, she peeked around the corner. Pearl had hopped down to stand on Ruby's level, but that did little to minimize the height difference between them. She was shorter than Sapphire had imagined, and horribly, absolutely real. She felt as if she was seeing an old friend for the first time in years. She wanted to run in, right in, she needed to--frantically, she looked for Ruby's gem, and the crack on it. She needed to see how bad it was for herself. She needed to see what she had failed to prevent.

Something about all this made her feel like she wanted to cry--from the guilt, the anger, and the happiness she was experiencing all at once. Sapphire was immensely grateful she hadn't needed to have this moment in front of Ruby.

She had completely forgotten Rose was there until she felt her hand gently rest on her shoulder. Sapphire turned to her.

"That's her?"

Sapphire swallowed hard and nodded, then turned back to watch Ruby. She heard nothing Pearl said, had no idea how long it had been when the door closed behind Ruby and she was gone.

She didn't realize Pearl was standing behind her until she spoke. "So, was that her?"

Rose Quartz answered for her. "Yes."

It struck Sapphire then how childish and strange this all was--she was hiding in a hallway with Rose Quartz, the leader of the gem rebellion, because of her irrational fear of speaking to a gem she'd been having dreams about for thousands of years.

Not that either of them knew that.

"I gave her a room to stay in while everyone else goes to fight, and invited her to our tactical meeting this evening."

Sapphire nodded. This meant she would see Ruby again tonight. This meant Ruby would see _her_.

She hoped Ruby liked her. Sapphire was small like Ruby, but she had never been able to summon her weapon before. That didn't mean she couldn't hold her own in a fight, thanks to her future vision, but would that matter to Ruby? Most gems didn't want a friend as weak as she was, but especially not gems like Ruby, who loved to fight. Her first friend in the world had been Pearl. Ruby couldn't be more different. And if Ruby didn't like her, she might never get the answers she needed.

She watched Rose and Pearl walk away. Once they were out of sight, she fisted her hands into her hair. She hated lying to them. But she hadn't known how to tell them.

How could she say she's been dreaming about Ruby since at least a thousand years before the rebellion?


	2. Chapter 2

The meeting went much the same way.

The more Sapphire saw of Ruby, the more certain she was that the things she'd seen in her dreams had really happened to this gem.

Ruby had the smallest red scar on the back of her leg. The first gem she'd ever killed had given that scar to her. Sapphire had been with her, in a way, when she was awake the whole night crying.

Ruby struggled to express what she was thinking. Ruby was so strong that when she'd summoned her gauntlets, she could break stone. Ruby teared up when she was happy.

Sitting here at the table, with Ruby right in front of her, it was so difficult to look away. It felt like every moment she spent having Ruby here, she recognized more of the mannerisms she'd always known were there. It all felt so terrifyingly correct. It was the strangest feeling Sapphire could never understand.

She hadn't fully realized she was staring until Ruby looked up at her. She looked away, hoping her embarrassment hadn't shown on her face, hoping Ruby hadn't been able to see… whatever it was she was feeling. The last thing she needed was for Ruby to know about it before they'd even spoken to one another.

Sapphire's future vision was integral in formulating the Crystal Gems' strategies. As a result, she already knew everything Pearl mentioned in the meeting. This was convenient for her, as she'd tuned it all out anyway.

What she hadn't known about ahead of time was that Rose Quartz was planning to talk to Ruby after the meeting ended.

She couldn't help but look at Ruby again as Pearl brought her up to Rose. Something about the proximity was making Sapphire horribly jittery.

"Hello, Ruby." Rose Quartz said. Sapphire stood. She felt better able to handle whatever might happen next if she was on her feet.

"Hi," Ruby responded. Sapphire could see the nervousness in her posture.

"I was informed of what happened to you yesterday. Would you mind if I take a look at your gem?"

Ruby's hesitation wrenched at Sapphire's conscience. She could have prevented it. Sapphire hadn't been able to see Ruby's gem that morning, but she looked now. The scratch was far deeper than it had seemed in her dreams.

"It isn't that bad. It doesn't even hurt that much. It'll heal on its own."

Sapphire could see the sympathy in Rose's eyes. She had always loved the gems that she could fix.

"I will have you brought to the healing fountain tomorrow." As if she'd felt Sapphire watching the exchange, Rose looked at her. "Sapphire will take you."

Sapphire nodded to Ruby when she turned to look at her. She took a moment to process what Rose had said, but when she did, she found she was glad for this opportunity; it would mean she could finally speak with Ruby.

~*~

She spent the entire night restless. She wanted to retrieve Ruby immediately, but she knew she shouldn't seem too eager. The previous evening, Pearl had told her where Ruby's room was. It was only a few doors down from her own. The closeness was worse than anything. The image of Ruby's cracked gem was seared into Sapphire's mind.

The moment the sun crested the horizon, Sapphire knocked on Ruby's door. Ruby didn't respond immediately.

"Ruby?" Sapphire called. "Is everything all right?"

There was a moment's silence, followed by a commotion and rapid footfalls.

"Yeah, coming, sorry!" Ruby's voice was muffled by the door. Sapphire thought about opening it, but didn't want to invade Ruby's privacy.

"Ouch!" Ruby cried out when she opened the door. "I was sleeping." She held her gem close to her chest. Sapphire was glad she would have the opportunity to have it healed today. The guilt she felt if she even thought about it was still overwhelming.

Sapphire tried to distract herself from it. "You slept?"

"I didn't know how else to spend the time."

She should have come earlier. Ruby wouldn't have needed to be in pain for so long. But she hadn't known, she'd just been following orders. She nodded to Ruby in acknowledgement.

"Are you ready to go?"

Ruby talked to her all the way to Rose's fountain. Sapphire had never talked to anyone except for Pearl who hadn't made her feel like she was strange. Not even when they talked about fighting. Ruby even offered to help her summon her weapon. She made it seem like it wasn't a big deal that Sapphire had never done it before.

The ease with which Sapphire was able to talk with Ruby coupled with the sight of Ruby's gem in Rose's healing fountain put Sapphire in a wonderful mood by the time they were walking back to the compound together.

She thought about how Ruby's gem was on her hand, how Ruby was as lonely as Sapphire, how Ruby had betrayed Homeworld at the same time Sapphire did. She'd summed the similarities between them up to Sapphire's desperate and lonely subconscious, to a _wish_ –-she didn't know what to make of them now.

How would Ruby respond if–-

An image of an arrow hitting Ruby in the shoulder interrupted Sapphire's thoughts. She did not hesitate.

"Get down." She pushed Ruby to the ground and the arrow sailed past them. Ruby said something behind her, but she tuned her out. She scanned the trees for their attacker. When her search yielded nothing, she used her future vision to predict the attacker's location. She pointed at the most likely location. "There."

As she'd expected, a gem emerged from behind a tree. She was dark green. Her communication devices clearly marked her as a Homeworld gem. Rose had no access to such things.

Sapphire was frantically trying to remember if either her or Ruby were wearing anything to indicate their allegiance to Rose's army, trying to determine if this gem would have any reason to believe any part of the Crystal Gems were here, when the other gem spoke.

"It's foolish of you to travel without a guard, Sapphire."

The words struck almost immediate terror into her. It couldn't be. They couldn't… know?

"She does have a guard."

This distracted Sapphire from her thoughts. No. Ruby wasn't supposed to defend her. Frantically, she scanned her future vision and saw the very thing she'd been fearing. "No, Ruby!" She called.

It was too late. Ruby was already running. Sapphire could only watch as…

Ruby ducked the arrow that should have gone through her and stood directly in front of the gem. What Sapphire admired about Ruby's fighting style most was that it usually only took one well-placed hit to do enough damage to a gem's physical form. Ruby caught her gem as it fell.

Sapphire ran up to Ruby, still half-expecting to find her disembodied gem lying on the dirt. She didn't.

"Are you okay?"

As if she thought it a suitable response, Ruby offered the gem to her. Sapphire swatted it away; she didn't want it.

"Ruby, are you hurt? Did she hurt you?" She tried again, even though she knew the answer.

"No, I'm fine."

The words did little to ease the fear for Ruby's life her vision had placed in her. The implications of the Homeworld gem knowing Sapphire's name and wondering why she wasn't guarded hadn't fully slipped her mind either. But Ruby was more important.

"I… you didn't need to do that. You didn't need to do that. Why did you do that?" She was losing control of her emotions again. Something about Ruby being in danger made it difficult for her to maintain her composure.

"I don't know, I didn't really think about it. I just… did it. Seemed like the thing to do."

"It was my fault. I should have seen it coming. You shouldn't have had to risk your life for my mistake. I've just been so distracted, I wasn't even looking! How did they find us?" The better question was how they found her.

"Do you still have her gem?" Sapphire added. Perhaps it would yield some answers.

"Yeah, here." Ruby tossed it to her and she caught it. She sent it back to the base for safekeeping.

Now that the gem was taken care of, Sapphire was able to turn her mind to other pressing matters, like not getting attacked again. She didn't see any other Homeworld gems in the area, but she was finished taking chances for today. "We need to get back to the compound. Quickly."

She took Ruby by the hand and pulled her down the path. She heard Ruby trying to get her attention, but she focused instead on examining the possible futures that this development had brought to light. She covered her eyes with her free hand to block some of the light. She needed to focus.

She didn't like what she saw. In several of these futures, Homeworld discovered Sapphire's value to the Crystal Gems' cause. In others, they discovered that the battle their forces currently waged in the North was a ruse. Many involved Homeworld finding their base. Some involved herself, Rose, or both being captured or killed.

She did not acknowledge Ruby until her future vision told her that if she ignored Ruby any longer, she would become upset. She opened her eyes. The sunlight was blinding.

"Ruby." She tried to keep her emotions from her face and voice. "When we get back to the compound, I'm going to take you back to your room. I'm then going to talk to Rose Quartz. After I'm done, I'll come back to your room and I'll explain anything you want to know. Do you understand why I have to talk to Rose Quartz before I can answer you?"

Ruby looked stung, but she nodded anyway.

When Sapphire reached for Ruby the first time, it was initially without thinking. Then she hesitated–-what if it was too much–decided she needed to know Ruby was okay right now, and pulled her into her arms. When Ruby didn't respond, Sapphire worried she had made a mistake. Just when she was about to pull away and apologize, she felt Ruby hug her back.

"Thank you." Sapphire whispered. She meant to thank Ruby for making everything feel okay, for being real, and for risking her life for her. The words didn't feel like enough.


	3. Chapter 3

Between dropping off Ruby and walking to Rose and Pearl's room, her mind moved a mile a minute trying to make sense of the possible futures that had just come to light.

First: The gem. Sapphire's future vision seemed to imply that she had come alone, and that the forces of Homeworld were not at their gates. However. From where it currently sat, the situation could develop in one of three ways: the Homeworld forces could completely miss the absence of one lowly agent; they could also send a small force after the dark green gem, which would then find their base, where it would meet defeat with ease but not without casualty, and lead to a future battle here; or the Homeworld could turn the majority of their forces toward the base on the hunch that the agent had disappeared because she had been captured by Rose's forces.

In her current state, Rose couldn't fight. The thought of Rose's scratched gem reminded her again of what had happened to Ruby. Either of the latter two possibilities would pose grave danger for her, as she would be the target of any attack.

Second: Ruby. Though her survival had been more likely, the chances of Ruby's death from her confrontation with the Homeworld gem did not make Sapphire happy. The fact that Ruby had moved from the realms of the theoretical to the realms of reality meant she now applied to the traditional rules of Sapphire's future vision: she could now see all the possible outcomes Ruby's future could take, which included all the possible ways that Ruby could be hurt or killed. And she needed to keep Ruby safe.

And the future she saw in which Ruby's chances of survival were highest, but it was perhaps the most terrifying of them all.

And she knew exactly how it could be done. And regardless of how terrifying the prospect might seem for her, she knew she needed to secure it for Ruby. She remembered how she had felt watching Ruby run towards that gem with the image of an arrow through her stomach fresh in her mind. She needed to protect Ruby. Nothing was more important. Nothing.

When Sapphire burst into their room, Pearl and Rose jumped apart. Pearl flushed a deep blue, and Rose just looked concerned–it wasn't like Sapphire to enter without knocking.

"Sorry for interrupting." Sapphire said brusquely. She wasn't actually that sorry.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"Ruby has been healed successfully and returned to her room safely, but on the way back, we had a bit of a run-in with a Homeworld gem. She seemed to be... looking for me."

Rose's eyebrows rose at this. Normally, when Homeworld agents were captured, they were looking for Rose.

"This almost certainly means that they've discovered the nature of my abilities and their impact on our successfulness. When we were attacked, Ruby..." She paused. She could feel emotion creeping into her voice. She forced it back out. "Engaged the Homeworld agent and destroyed her physical form, forcing her to recede into her gem. I've already bubbled it and sent it back here."

"Is there any danger?" It was Pearl that spoke this time. She seemed to have recovered from her initial embarrassment and was now leaning forward with her chin rested on her clasped hands. Sapphire knew she was already thinking of the tactical implications of Homeworld's new knowledge.

"Possibly. It's unlikely, but possible. We cannot release the gem we've captured under any circumstances. If Homeworld notices her absence, they might ignore it, or they might send a small search team looking for her, or there's a small chance they'll decide I'm more important than Rose and come after us with the full force of their army."

Rose and Pearl's eyes both widened at that.

"But there's nothing we can do about it now. I'll continue to meditate on this problem, and inform you immediately if I see anything else. I have another request."

"Yes?"

"Ruby's actions today have convinced me that she would make a very excellent addition to our group as Rose's personal guard."

Pearl scoffed.

Sapphire ignored her and spoke directly to Rose Quartz. "Obviously there's no reason to replace Pearl. In battle she would compliment Pearl perfectly, and be a great asset to you. She's strong. Very strong. The strongest of any of the rubies in our army. I've seen it. Today, she shattered our attacker's physical form with a single strike. And she'd be as loyal as you, Pearl."

"Well, I doubt that." Pearl said, though she did seem less defensive now. Sapphire had known they would listen to her. She realized with no small satisfaction that Rose and Pearl trusted her judgement.

"I'll show you how good she is. She wants to help me learn to summon my weapon." Sapphire couldn't help the navy blush the idea created, but she pressed on nonetheless. "You should both come and watch her fight me. Tonight."

Pearl and Rose Quartz looked at each other and seemed to come to a wordless agreement.

It was Pearl that spoke. "I'll come and watch her practice with you, and if she defeats you, she can spar with me personally. Then we'll discuss giving her a place on our little team."

Sapphire nodded in agreement.

"I'll inform Ruby. Will you be available in an hour?"

Pearl glanced at Rose before responding. "I probably will. I'll meet both of you down on the lawn around then."

"See you then." Sapphire nodded respectfully to Rose and left the room.

The walk to Ruby's room passed in a blur, nervous as she was about how Ruby would respond to all of this. She hoped Ruby asked questions she wouldn't hate the answers to.

When she arrived, she took a moment to compose herself before she knocked on the door. Ruby opened it within three seconds. Sapphire wondered if she had been standing there the entire time.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," Sapphire responded. "May I come in?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Ruby gestured her in and motioned for her to sit on the bed. "How did your talk with Rose and Pearl go?"

"Well. All went as planned. We have an hour here, and then I'll need you to come with me to the lawn. I'll be taking you up on the offer to practice summoning my weapon. I invited Pearl to join us. If you can defeat me, Pearl would like to see how you do against her, if you're comfortable with that."

"Pearl? What interest does she have in me?"

"I... I've recommended you for a position. Among our circle. She wants to test your strength. And perhaps to get to know you better."

"Among your... circle? You work directly with Rose Quartz. You want me to... They want _me_?"

"I do. And they will too, once they've seen what you're capable of. Don't worry about it. You'll do fine. I wouldn't have recommended you if I didn't know that. And you can practice against me a few times first to get warmed up."

Ruby nodded.

"There were other things you wanted to ask me?" Sapphire prompted.

"Yes, sorry." Ruby seemed to snap herself out of it. "Why was that gem looking for you? Why did she say you shouldn't be traveling without a guard?"

Sapphire had been expecting this question, but she still took a moment to decide how best to answer it.

"Are you aware of my position among the Crystal Gems, Ruby?"

Ruby shook her head.

"Not many are. Pearl is Rose's right hand, the mind behind the majority of our battle strategies. Pearl accompanies Rose into battle, always. On multiple occasions, Pearl has sacrificed herself to protect Rose's safety. Apart from Pearl and Rose, I am, at the risk of sounding conceited, the most important and highly ranked member of Rose's inner circle. I have a rather rare gift, which makes me a great asset to her: I have future vision."

"What's future vision?"

"I see possible outcomes of different situations. Because I can see these outcomes, I can influence what comes to pass. It's how I knew we were about to be shot at by an arrow earlier today. It's how I found the gem who attacked us in the trees. To directly answer your question, Homeworld would be looking for me if they knew of my power because my guidance is of critical importance in our battle strategies, and perhaps because they would want to use my gift for themselves."

"Have we met before?" Ruby blurted out.

"What?" Sapphire had been expecting more of a reaction to her revelation, and certainly not this abrupt subject change. She tried not to betray herself. "What makes you think that?"

"It's just, when I saw you at the meeting, you seemed so familiar. And you were looking at me. And I thought maybe you recognized me, too."

Sapphire had so hoped Ruby wouldn't have noticed the way she'd treated her, and wouldn't have asked any questions like this.

"I... I don't think so."

"Oh." Ruby looked... disappointed?

"Wait. There is something. It'll sound very strange, though. I don't want you to..." She trailed off, unsure of how to finish. She didn't know what she didn't want. She didn't know what she did want.

"You can tell me." Ruby's eyes were so earnest, but also so... naive.

Against her better judgement, she conceded.

"The three days preceding what happened to you, I had the exact same dream. And it was about you. And what they did to you. I saw it."

Sapphire looked at Ruby, hesitant. Her face betrayed nothing. She desperately hoped she wasn't going too far, or making the other gem uncomfortable.

"I thought you weren't real, and that what I'd seen wasn't real, because my future vision doesn't normally work like that. That changed when the three gems that tortured you were brought before Rose, Pearl, and I for judgement. I recognized their story because I had seen it myself. So I had you brought here. I had you held back from the fighting, because I didn't understand why I saw a certainty with you, when my vision ordinarily works in probabilities. I wanted answers from you."

Ruby still said nothing. Sapphire forced herself to finish.

"We may not have met in person before yesterday, but I feel like I know you, because of everything I've seen." She stopped speaking. Ruby still hadn't responded. "Please. Say something."

Ruby looked up at Sapphire then, and she saw that she was crying.

"I didn't want you to see me like that. I had been hoping... This whole time, I had been hoping you hadn't even heard the story. But you _saw_ it. What must you think of me?"

Sapphire didn't know what else to do, so she reached for Ruby's hands.

"I never speak in those meetings, but when I had to look at the faces of the gems who did that to you, I... I've never been so angry. I sent them to the front lines for the rest of the war. I might as well have sentenced them to death. They'll never hurt you again. All that seeing what happened has done is make me care about you so much now that I know you're real. And it's made me want to be your friend."

Ruby nodded and wiped at her face.

"Can I see it? Your gem."

Sapphire was already holding her hand, so Ruby only needed to turn over her palm. Sapphire reached out to touch it, then remembered how Ruby had responded to Rose asking just to see her gem.

"Is this okay?"

"Yeah."

When she felt that Ruby's gem was whole now, a tension Sapphire hadn't known was there seemed to dissipate.

"I could have prevented this." Sapphire said after a moment. "I'm so sorry."

"S'okay. Happens."

She hoped she'd done the right thing by keeping part of the truth from Ruby as she'd kept it from Rose and Pearl. It wasn't that she meant to lie, exactly, she just didn't want to overwhelm Ruby so soon. She would tell Ruby everything soon. Of course she would.

Sapphire separated herself from Ruby.

"We should probably go if you want to practice before you need to fight Pearl."

"Yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't that she was surprised Pearl had been impressed with Ruby and agreed to train her as a guard for Rose. It was that she was surprised Ruby seemed to have lost interest in Sapphire as a result of her new position. Sapphire supposed she should have expected this, given both her future vision and her personal history of not interesting other gems.

And it wasn't that she was surprised, exactly, that she liked to help Ruby practice fighting. It was that she was surprised she liked it because it felt _so much_ like dancing.

The dreams hadn't stopped now that she'd met Ruby. On the contrary, it now seemed that Ruby was all she saw whenever she closed her eyes.

Half the dreams felt like they had before--like she was glimpsing a part of Ruby's past, or her future. Other dreams were much more strange and impossible. In one, she dreamed that she was back on the Homeworld with Ruby. In another, she dreamed she was in a huge battle, fighting with Ruby's gauntlets.

In the days that followed Ruby's appointment, Sapphire hardly saw her. Ruby spent most of her time with Pearl, memorizing Rose's routines and becoming familiar with Pearl's fighting style. Sapphire spent the time meditating on the possibility of an attack. She hadn't seen much, but she thought that was probably a good thing.

She also hadn't seen anything about how Rose's main army was faring in their battle with the Homeworld forces. The problem with Sapphire staying behind from these battles was that her vision was blinded to events that did not directly impact her. She could discern clues about possible outcomes from the way they'd impact Sapphire specifically (for example: most of these futures involved Rose's forces returning to the compound in the next week, though whether it meant they'd won or lost, she wasn't sure).

Mostly she just missed Ruby. She found it silly that she felt this way, given that the few days it had been since they'd spent time together were nothing in comparison to the thousands of years she'd spent alone before she'd known Ruby was real.

But it was different now, somehow.

Pearl had been her first friend. It had been Pearl who convinced her to betray Homeworld and fight for Earth. And that had only been in the past few years. Before that, Sapphire had no one. She'd always thought of Ruby as something her subconscious mind had created because she was so lonely. Ruby was too good to be real.

But she was real.

And not only that, but she didn't seem to find Sapphire strange. She didn't seem to mind her weird mannerisms and awkward silences.

She didn't understand what it meant. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that the gem she'd been having dreams about for thousands of years was also one of the only gems who had ever shown any interest in her for anything other than her future vision.

She wanted to go and visit Ruby and see how she was doing, but she didn't want to come off too desperate for friends.

Instead, she took the energy from the part of her that wanted to see Ruby and spent it sparring with anyone left in the compound who was willing. Most of the gems that remained at the compound were not soldiers, including Sapphire. As a result, they had not seen any of the battles the rebellion had fought. When faced with the prospect of an attack, many were eager to learn to defend themselves.

Sapphire was beginning to understand why Rose's troops spent the majority of their free time sparring. Faced with the knowledge that if a party of gems found them, only these gems who remained would stand between them and Rose Quartz.

Sapphire tried not to think about what it would mean if Homeworld had really begun searching for her.

The next time Sapphire saw Ruby outside of meetings was when she and Pearl came to practice with the other gems. When Ruby saw her, she walked up to her immediately.

"Ready?" Ruby summoned her gauntlets.

Sapphire smiled. "I think you should be more worried about yourself."

The other gems had grown wary of fighting Sapphire, because they'd quickly learned that she won far more often than not, no matter the skill of her opponent. The prospect of watching Sapphire fight someone new attracted attention from the others, who began to gather around them.

Sapphire didn't need her future vision to know that Ruby would probably try to make the first move by running towards her. She did need her future vision to anticipate how much Ruby had learned from Pearl, and to adjust her strategy accordingly.

From the beginning, fighting Ruby was a bit different than fighting everyone else. For one thing, she seemed to be hesitating to make up her mind about what she was going to do. Her body language would tell Sapphire one thing, and her future vision would tell her another. Trusting her future vision was an easy and usually correct decision, but it threw Sapphire to have nothing else to go on.

It only took Sapphire a few feints to realize that Ruby's hesitation was intentional, and that she was trying to throw off Sapphire's future vision. Sapphire actually laughed aloud when she figured it out.

Well, it hadn't worked. Her future vision was completely unimpacted. The only thing that had been confused was Sapphire. It had been a clever attempt, she supposed.

Now that she understood what Ruby was doing, it became easy to search for openings in her defense. She found one, reached out for it, and pulled Ruby to the ground. It was the same way she'd defeated every other gem in this room. Except for the fact that this time, she felt a tug on the front of her dress and lost her balance. She landed on one of Ruby's gauntlets. It hurt, but she didn't care.

"I win." Ruby's smile was infectious. Sapphire had never been so glad to have lost.

The gems around them broke into applause, pulling Sapphire from her thoughts. She climbed off Ruby and helped her up. She could have won if she had the strength required to deal the final blow. But she had no weapon. She had no means of doing enough damage to another gem to crack it or to damage its form. But if Ruby had pulled harder, her gauntlet would have shattered her.

Sapphire may have won the majority of these practice battles, but she knew each would have been a loss had they been real. She glanced at Ruby next to her. She still hadn't learned how best to protect her.

She sat down on the edge of the room. Ruby tried to follow her, but she told her to go and practice. She didn't want Ruby missing out on something she loved to do on her account.

It was when she'd settled down and closed her eyes that she saw it.

Something had changed. Something had happened among the Homeworld forces that had convinced them to send a party after the agent they'd captured. The party could become lost or hurt on their way, or they could never find where they were located. But that the party was coming had coalesced into absolute certainty.

But they weren't coming for Rose. They were coming for her. They'd sent twenty gems after Sapphire. They were not expecting to find Rose Quartz here.

That was a blessing. Rose was safe. Even if Sapphire was captured or killed, the resistance could continue, as long as they didn't find Rose. And they weren't sending the entire army. That was a blessing.

She knew exactly what she needed to do.

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Sapphire?" Ruby knelt before her. Pearl stood just behind, looking concerned. She wondered how long she'd been gone. The room was deserted.

She stood slowly. "I saw something. It's just a small party. Nothing we can't handle. Twenty or so. They aren't coming for Rose. They're coming for me."

Pearl spoke first. "What? Are you sure? That's not possible, they don't even know about you."

"They must. The gem we captured, she said... She wondered why I wasn't traveling without a guard. I didn't say anything before, because I didn't want you to worry. It's okay, though," she added, seeing Pearl and Ruby's fearful expressions. "They don't know Rose is here. They don't know anything about Rose. It's okay."

"I need to speak with Rose." Pearl said. She turned to go.

"Wait!" Sapphire called after her. "You have to tell her to leave. You can't let her stay and fight. If she does, and a single Homeworld gem gets away to tell the rest where she is, it'll almost certainly mean her death."

Pearl hesitated. Sapphire knew it would be quite a task to convince her to hide while her people fought for her. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded.

"Don't worry, Sapphire." Ruby said once Pearl had left. "There are plenty of us here to protect you. You probably won't even need to fight."

Sapphire felt her throat closing. She couldn't allow this to happen. She wasn't worth it.

"I need you to stay with me. I don't want you to leave my side until the fighting starts." It felt silly to be so protective. She knew that Ruby had been in fights before now. But she had so much to worry about already, she couldn't worry about Ruby too.

Ruby nodded. "I'll stay. We should go and talk to Pearl and Rose. We need to make a plan."

As they walked, she examined every possible outcome until her head pounded and her vision was black around the edges. She knew she should be focusing on other things besides Ruby (would they find Rose?), but she was having trouble focusing on anything but the thousand ways Ruby was in danger.

When they reached Pearl, it was to find her having no luck in convincing Rose.

Rose was seated, calm and composed except her furrowed eyebrows. Pearl was standing over her with her hands on her hips. They quieted immediately when Ruby and Sapphire entered, but Pearl's face was flushed blue. When Pearl turned to her, Sapphire could see the anxiety in her eyes. She didn't need to be asked to intervene.

"Rose." Sapphire kept her voice calm. "I know you don't want to leave us to fight for you. But if Homeworld discovers our ruse, far more gems will be at stake than those that could perish in this battle. For the good of the gems that follow you, Rose, please, you have to sacrifice your own wishes this time."

Rose scowled, but said nothing. Sapphire knew she and Pearl had won this argument.

"I think you should stay with Rose, Sapphire."

Sapphire turned to face Ruby. She opened her mouth, ready to loudly disagree, but she stopped herself. She couldn't herself refuse to do what she was asking of Rose. And she also couldn't let Ruby put herself in danger for her.

It was like she'd told Rose. She had to put aside what she wanted for the good of the many.

"You're right, Ruby." She turned to Rose. "At least that means that if they do find Rose, I'll be there to protect her." If she was needed, her future vision would probably tell her, and she could leave to fight.

"We need to have a meeting to tell everyone. Tonight. When do you think they're most likely to arrive, Sapphire?"

"Midday tomorrow. Possibly morning, possibly night. There are only twenty. We outnumber them two to one."

Pearl nodded. "I'll gather everyone." She left the room.

"I'm just going to check--" she tried to use her future vision again, but she nearly fainted, and only saw stars. Ruby kept her from falling.

"Are you okay?"

Sapphire sighed. There couldn't be a worse time for her to run out of energy. "I need to sleep."

"I'll take you back to your room." Ruby offered.

"Okay."

"Pearl." Ruby said before they left. "If I take care of Sapphire, will you find a place for her and Rose to hide?"

Pearl nodded. "Get some rest, Sapphire."

Sapphire let herself be led from the room.


	5. Chapter 5

It was difficult for Sapphire to maintain her reservedness when she was so tired. Hiding everything she felt no longer seemed like a worthwhile use of her limited energy. Just making it to her room would be difficult enough. She paused against a wall to catch her breath.

"What's going on, Sapphire? Are you sure you can walk? I can carry you, if you want. You'll be needing your energy."

She didn't want to be a burden. "I'm fine, I just…" She pushed herself back up, failed to stand completely on her own, and grabbed Ruby's arm. She supposed that would have to be good enough. "It exhausts me when I use my future vision too much. I'm sorry I tired myself out," she said as they started walking again. "I'm normally much more careful about this."

Ordinarily, she was much more careful about a lot of things.

"It's okay. You're doing great."

It wasn't far now. It wasn't until Sapphire was in her room on her bed that Ruby spoke again.

"Do you want me to leave so you can sleep?"

Nothing would keep Sapphire awake more than uncertainty about Ruby's safety. "No. I want you to be with me when they come. Please stay."

Ordinarily, this kind of vulnerability in her words created would have terrified her. But she was too preoccupied with other things to care now.

"Okay." Ruby said. She sat on the floor next to her bed.

The only thing she cared about was not taking too much. At the same time, this wasn't enough.

She reached down for Ruby. "I need--"

"What is it?" Ruby asked. Sapphire didn't bother responding. After a clumsy moment, she found Ruby's hand. _This_ was what she wanted.

Ruby was still silent. Sapphire had been expecting a response from her before now. After several long moments, in which she was afraid of what she might hear, Sapphire spoke.

"I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I? I just want to know you're safe."

Ruby still said nothing. When Ruby pulled her hand away, Sapphire became certain she'd made a terrible mistake. She was so horrified with herself, she didn't realize Ruby had moved until she felt the other gem's weight next to her. She was holding both of Ruby's hands this time.

"This is better. I'm right here. Go to sleep." Ruby said.

Ruby was right. It was better. It was the most comfortable she'd ever been. She pondered, briefly, at how Ruby could draw the tension right from her.

And then she fell asleep.

~*~

It was still dark when she woke. Ruby had fallen asleep next to her. Sapphire had never seen Ruby sleep before. She was seized with the desire to reach out and touch her. Instead, she used her newfound energy to check on the search party.

They seemed to have a few hours. The gems hadn't yet reached Rose's fountain, though they were close. If they found the fountain, the base would follow soon after. But they seemed likely to stop and rest before they reached it, which would buy some time.

The battle was overwhelmingly likely to be short, with few casualties on their side. Really, it would be more of a skirmish. Nothing to be concerned about.

The sky was dark blue by the time Sapphire brought herself to wake Ruby. She opened her eyes slowly, seemed to take stock of her surroundings, and turned to Sapphire abruptly.

"Are they here?"

"No, no, don't worry. We have a few hours still."

Ruby nodded and sat up. She glanced down at their hands, flushed, and took her hand away.

"We need to find out if Pearl found a place for you and Rose." Ruby's tone was all business.

"Okay." The same concern from the previous evening was beginning to resurface. Sapphire had never wanted the things she wanted from Ruby from any other gem before, and she didn't know how she was supposed to navigate them.

Pearl had found a place in the remotest corner of the building for she and Rose to hide. She had set up a plan of defense that would require the attacking Homeworld gems to go through every other gem on the compound to make it to Rose and Sapphire.

Sapphire hated it.

She wanted to tell Pearl to scrap the entire plan and allow Sapphire to give herself up before her friends died for her. If she hadn't already known what the outcome of the request would be, she would have.

True to her word, Ruby didn't leave her side as they were discussing their plan of defense. Her proximity kept Sapphire's anxiety down, but she was acutely aware that Ruby would have to leave her side eventually.

When the search party found the fountain, Rose and Sapphire went to the room Pearl had found for them. Ruby and Pearl would be the last line of defense before the door, if the opposing gems even got that far. Rose sulked in the corner, while Pearl paced the floor. Sapphire and Ruby sat next to each other. Wordlessly, Sapphire reached for Ruby's hand.

Sapphire knew Ruby had fought before, but not since Sapphire had known she was real. It was different now.

When she heard the signal, Pearl summoned a spear and left the room without turning back. Sapphire caught Ruby's arm before she could follow. Ruby's eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Sapphire pulled her into a hug. It would be okay. Her future vision told her it would be okay. She pulled away and looked at Ruby's face.

The first time Sapphire kissed Ruby, she wasn't sure which one of them had leaned in. She wasn't sure how they'd gotten there. She just knew that Ruby's mouth was warm and her arms were wrapped around Sapphire's waist.

Ruby took a moment to open her eyes again after it was done. Sapphire searched her face for any indication of what the other gem was thinking, but she only seemed dazed.

"Stay here, Sapphire." Ruby said. And then she was gone.

It took Sapphire a moment to remember that Rose was still there. She was smiling. Sapphire smiled back weakly and sat down next to her.

"Do you think that's why you saw her?" Rose asked after a time.

"Probably."

~*~

Ruby couldn't possibly have expected her to _listen_.

Though perhaps she would have if all had gone according to plan.

She and Rose had grown increasingly tense with each sound they heard from the fighting outside, but it was not until she heard Pearl scream directly outside the door that she realized how dire the situation had become.

What happened? This was supposed to be easy.

She had to physically stand between Rose and the door to keep her from leaving to protect Pearl.

"I'll go," she said. "It's better if I go. We both know that."

She didn't need to go far to find out what had happened to Pearl. On the ground directly outside the door was Pearl's gem and one of her spears. Another three spears were broken down the hallway. She heard Ruby in the distance.

Sapphire picked up the gem and went back into the room.

"Here." She extended her hand. "It looks like Pearl is fine, she's just got a small chip."

Rose nodded and sat down with Pearl's gem. She seemed to have forgotten about Sapphire, which was fine by her. She needed to find Ruby.

When she closed her eyes to check for her, she almost couldn't believe what she saw.

She flew down the hallway, passing no less than five gems crushed to powder. When she rounded the corner, she saw that her future vision had not lied.

Ruby was facing an orange gem five times her size, alone, backed into a corner.

Sapphire knew what would happen next if she did not intervene.

"Ruby!" she called. Both gems turned to look at her. Ruby's expression was frantic.

"Get out of here!"

The orange gem was coming for Sapphire now. "No," she said, more to herself than to Ruby.

"That's Sapphire," the orange gem said to herself. In another voice, she answered, "remember, Yellow Diamond wants her alive."

Pearl's spear was too long for her. She would only be able to throw it. She did, into the center of the gem on the fusion's chest. It split the gem cleanly in half. The fusion glowed white, threatening to break apart.

"Come on, Ruby!" Sapphire called. Ruby wasted no time. They took off running together down the hall, away from Rose. Sapphire heard fighting in other parts of the compound.

"They're going to fuse again, and they're going to chase after us." Sapphire said. "We need to hide."

Ruby nodded. They stopped running when they found an alcove shielded by a fallen bookshelf.

The fusion was not far behind them. Sapphire pushed Ruby behind her and peeked out from their hiding place. It was slightly redder now without its fourth gem.

"I hear you, Sapphire," the fusion said. It began rummaging around the debris on the other side of the room. Ruby's hand tightened around Sapphire's arm.

"Fuse with me." Ruby whispered.

Sapphire closed her eyes and realized she was right. They had no chance alone. She thought of all the things she'd been too afraid to tell Ruby. Ruby would hate her for them. She remembered the way Ruby had sounded when her gem cracked the week before. It would be worth it.

"Okay." Sapphire said.

They bowed to each other. Sapphire reached for Ruby. It started as a simple waltz, then Ruby twirled her, dipped her, and they were enveloped in white light.


	6. Chapter 6

Garnet wasted no time summoning her gauntlets.

_Are you ready?_ Sapphire asked.

_Yeah,_ Ruby responded.

_Do you see it?_

The fusion had found her. Something about being twice Ruby or Sapphire's height made it much more difficult to hide.

_Yes,_ Ruby thought. _Tell me which way to go._

_Under_.

Garnet jumped out from behind the bookcase and rolled between the fusion's legs. There was a gem on the base of the fusion's back. She made direct contact with it, putting a crack across its face, landed on her feet. The kick would come from the left. Garnet stepped back to avoid it.

_We need to get around again,_ Ruby said. _We've already weakened that one_.

Sapphire agreed. _Jump now._

Garnet did, landing on the fist that had tried to hit her. She climbed up to the fusion's shoulder and dropped off its back. She hit the gem again. It shattered this time.

The fusion broke apart. A red and a yellow gem landed on either side of the gem shards.

_Left or right first?_ Ruby asked.

_Right_.

The yellow gem. Garnet didn't need to destroy this one. She brought a fist down on her head as she tried to stand, and her form disappeared with a poof. Garnet bubbled her and turned to the red gem.

She seemed to realize that there was little hope for her. She tried to run, but Garnet chased her and caught up with her easily. _It's nice to be tall_ , she thought. She pinned the red gem to the wall and tore her gem from her body, which disintegrated. She bubbled the gem.

She looked for any surviving Homeworld gems. There was only one.

_Let's go._

Garnet found the gem trying to get into the room where Rose was hiding. Rose must have been holding the door shut from the other side. Garnet tore the gem in half. She was realizing with some satisfaction that she was stronger even than Ruby.

"It's me, are you okay?" Garnet asked through the door, before realizing she spoke with neither of Sapphire or Ruby's voices, so Rose wouldn't recognize her. "I mean…" Garnet tried to explain, but grew frustrated. She pulled the door open by force, pushed Rose out of the way, and closed it behind her. Rose shielded herself and backed away, towards her sword.

"Who are you?" Rose asked. Pearl's gem glowed and she burst forth from it, form completely unchanged, and drew her spear.

"Garnet. I'm Ruby and Sapphire. The battle is over. The gem outside your door was the last one." Garnet said.

"Ruby and Sapphire?" Pearl asked. She stepped forward to examine her. "But you're so stable! The only fusion I've ever seen half as stable is–" Pearl cut herself off and flushed.

"Ours," Rose finished for her. "Perhaps Sapphire and I were right."

"Right about what?" Garnet asked. That was when Ruby saw it.

There hadn't only been one dream. There had been _thousands_. Sapphire had seen _everything_. And she–she–

Sapphire did not even have a moment to love Ruby as Garnet. Ruby's self-hatred caught her off guard and overwhelmed her.

_You can't love me. I don't want you to._

~*~

Sapphire had a pounding headache. She was sore everywhere. Being strong was hard work. But she missed being Garnet already.

Ruby was curled on the floor, the way she always did when she was angry. Sapphire ignored Rose and Pearl and went to her.

"I should have told you. I just didn't want to overwhelm you. I just didn't want to… I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Before she'd even finished speaking, she knew her excuse was not enough.

Ruby made a frustrated sound and ran from the room. Sapphire stared helplessly after her.

It wasn't as though she hadn't expected this to happen.

Rose and Pearl were staring with wide eyes.

"I've been dreaming about her for much longer than I let on." Sapphire said dully. She walked from the room.

This had been a terrible idea from the beginning. She should have known better than to try to get close. She had upset Ruby now. She should have punished the rubies that hurt her and left it at that. She should have let that be enough.

But even as she berated herself, she knew she could never have stayed away forever.

Sapphire left the others to the cleanup. She needed to be alone.

She should have known Ruby felt that way about herself. She should have seen it, should have anticipated it from the abuse she'd suffered from the other rubies around her. Or at least through her future vision. This shouldn't come as such a surprise to her.

She supposed it was just difficult for her to wrap her head around the idea that _anyone_ could feel that way about Ruby, much less Ruby herself.

What if Ruby never felt comfortable around her again? What if she'd ruined everything?

When she got back to her room, she closed the curtains and sat in the center of her bed. She knew she should consider herself lucky if Ruby even _spoke_ with her again. She missed the other gem already.

~*~

She wasn't sure how long it had been when she heard the knock on her door. It could have been days for all she cared. When she opened it and saw Ruby on the other side, she thought at first that she was dreaming.

"Can I come in?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah." Sapphire moved out of the way to allow her to enter. She sat on the bed. Ruby remained standing.

"I guess I just wanted to apologize. I wasn't mad at you, I was just… Mad at myself." Ruby looked down at the floor. Sapphire felt like something inside of her was breaking.

"I also wanted to ask… Well, I don't know, if it'll ever… But I want…" Ruby wrung her hands together nervously. Sapphire waited. "I want to try being Garnet again," she finally said. "I understand if you don't want to… deal with all of _that_. And that's okay if you don't, but I–"

Ruby cut off when Sapphire took both her hands.

"If you want to try again, so do I."

Ruby's smile was hesitant, but it was enough for Sapphire.

She'd waited so long already. She knew she could give Ruby all the time she needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Feel free to leave feedback and to check out "Love Takes Work" if you haven't already! [Here's](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4299915/chapters/9744972) a link to the first chapter.


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